Reds May 2023 Games Thread

[CJD]

I was looking at the Reds' first round picks and they're working out at a pretty high rate right now.

Since 2015, our first round picks have been:
2015: Tyler Stevenson, Starting Catcher
2016: Nick Senzel, Starting 3rd baseman who is starting to finally come into his own (for now. EDLC is coming and may push him into the outfield)
2016: Taylor Trammel, Mariners' starting LF, granted he is not playing great (Part of the Trevor Bauer trade that got Cincy its first Cy Young Award winner)
2017: Hunter Greene, Ace starting pitcher, big extension
2017: Jeter Downs, Part of the Homer Bailey salary dump/Yasiel Puig trade, is currently in the minors for Washington.
2018: Johnathan India, starting 2nd baseman, rookie of the year recipient
2019: Nick Lodolo, 2nd starting pitcher (some think he's better than Greene)
2020: Austin Hendrick, high school player, dealt with some injuries, but hit 21 home runs in 2022 and is hitting .270 so far this year in A+
2021: Matt McClain, recently called up and already in the #2 slot, starting shortstop (for now. EDLC is coming and may push him somewhere else)
2021: Jay Allen, too soon to tell
2022: Cam Collier, too soon to tell
2022: Sal Stewart, too soon to tell

So, with 9 first round picks between 2015 and 2021, the Reds have their starting Catcher, starting 3rd baseman, two quality starting pitchers, starting 2nd baseman, starting shortstop, 2 prospects who were flipped in decent trades (they ultimately didn't work out, but they were meant to be "win now" trades) and 1 player who has not yet reached the majors due to injuries and having been a high school draftee.

I was just watching the game last night and thinking "Man...this team is FILLED with first round picks. Is that how other teams build? Just hit on every first round pick and build an entire team of them?"

I don't know how other teams do converting their draft picks to major league players, but this feels different from previous Reds teams. Looking before 2015, I see a ton of full misses who barely even made it to the majors, let alone secured a starting spot on the roster. Alex Blandino, Nick Howard, Phillip Ervin, Jeff Gelalich, Nick Travieso were picked between 2012 and 2014 and none of them amounted to much of anything. They did draft Michael Lorenzen and Jesse Winker in that time frame who have been decent players, but very injury prone and inconsistent.